The Beginning
by disneyevilqueen
Summary: Story 1 of the Swan-Mills Universe. Regina and Emma find out they have a little bundle of joy on the way. What craziness could possibly be in store?
1. The Test

**Hi everyone! I'm back! I know, I know, you've missed me a ton. It's okay to admit it. Anywho...now that college has started for me I've decided to go ahead and get this universe started. Updates may not be as often as you'd like, but I promise that I'm trying very hard to get you chapters as soon as I can. Let's have some fun!**

* * *

The minute that Regina woke up, she knew that she was in for a very rough day. As soon as she rolled over, she immediately threw off the covers and ran to the bathroom. Whatever stomach bug she had, she was very much over it.

"Regina?" Emma called, her voice still sounding groggy from just waking up. "Are you okay?"

Regina went to respond, but found herself throwing up again. She heard Emma throwing off the covers and hurrying into the bathroom, and smiled graciously when Emma grabbed her hair to hold back for her.

They stood like that for awhile, Emma holding Regina's hair and Regina bent over the toilet, before Regina reached up and flushed it and slowly got to her feet. She walked over the the sink and brushed her teeth, avoiding Emma's gaze in the mirror.

"You know what I'm going to say," Emma said, closing the lid of the toilet and sitting on it. "Which is why you're avoiding looking at me."

Regina spit out the toothpaste in her mouth. "It's just a stomach bug."

"You don't know that for sure," Emma said. She held up her hands as Regina glared at her. "I'm just saying."

Regina rolled her eyes before leaving the bathroom, Emma hot on her heels. "What if it's something bad? Nausea is a symptom of a lot of things. Especially when it's been going on for this long."

"It hasn't been going on for that long," Regina argued.

Emma crossed her arms and looked at Regina defiantly. "It's been a week of this happening every morning."

Regina sighed before sitting on their bed. "And what are you suggesting is going on?"

Emma bit her lip before poofing a package into her hand. Regina looked at it carefully before shaking her head. "No. Not possible."

"Just humor me," Emma said, taking a pregnancy test out of the box and holding it out for Regina to take. "If it's negative I won't say anything ever again."

"I am not taking that," Regina said, clasping her hands tightly together. "There is no way that could happen. You're lacking some pretty important equipment for that."

"Come on," Emma pleaded. "We both have magic. What if this is something that magic can do that neither of us thought about? Do it for me."

Regin groaned. "I hate when you say that."

"Why?" Emma asked.

Regina grabbed the pregnancy test from her. "Because it makes me do whatever you want."

Emma just laughed as Regina walked reluctantly towards the bathroom. She sat on the edge of their bed in anticipation. A little while later, Regina came out of the bathroom and sat next to her.

"How long do we wait?" Emma asked, practically bouncing with excitement.

"Longer than you'll be able to," Regina said, chuckling.

Emma smiled guiltily. "Come on, you have to admit that this is a little exciting. We could be having a baby!"

Regina winced. "Don't get your hopes up too high."

"I know, I know," Emma said. "Lacking necessary equipment."

"It's not just that," Regina said slowly. "There's something else that I did as well. Something that, well, makes all of this even more difficult."

Emma reached over and grabbed Regina's hand, squeezing it gently. "What happened?"

Regina chuckled darkly. "My mother, as usual. She got into my head, tried to control my life and I-" She cut herself off, not wanting to say more.

"You what?" Emma asked. "You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"

Regina swallowed before timidly nodding. "Something like that. I drank a potion that took away my ability to carry a child so that my mother would never be able to control an heir to the throne."

Emma's jaw dropped. "Why would you do that?"

"Because it hurt her," Regina said. "And anything that caused her pain made me happy. So like I said, this isn't possible. I can't get pregnant."

Emma looked down at their hands before squeezing Regina's again. "I just have this weird feeling that you are. You know how my gut feelings are."

Regina smiled. "They're always right."

"You're damn right they are," Emma said, smiling. "Now go look at that test."

Regina let go of Emma's hand and went towards the bathroom, stopping in the doorway. "If this isn't positive-"

"I won't be disappointed," Emma interrupted. "I promise."

Regina rolled her eyes. "You're a bad liar." She went into the bathroom before Emma could say anything else.

The pregnancy test sat on the counter, practically glaring at Regina. She took a deep breath before picking it up and looking in the middle for the result. What she saw made her almost drop it in shock.

It was positive.

 **It feels so good to be back! How I've missed these guys. Anywho, review!**


	2. Impossible

**I'm so excited for all of this. If you haven't read "365 Days of Swan Queen" do that now! It will kind of help explain what is in store.**

 **Just to kinda clarify our timeline, Emma and Regina are married, and Henry is 17. Everything is taking place after the latest season, with Regina interrupting Emma and Hook's wedding. In other words, it's a couple years after the 365th chapter of "365 Days of Swan Queen".**

 **We're also gonna pretend that Season 7 isn't a thing and SQ will live on :)**

* * *

"Regina?" Emma called, knocking lightly on the doorframe. "Are you okay?"

Regina shook her head and turned to face Emma with a dumbstruck expression on her face. "This isn't possible," she whispered. "How?"

"Magic," Emma said simply, grabbing Regina's hand and pulling her back into the bedroom. "And I don't mean that in a cheesy and dumb way, I actually mean it. We made a baby with magic."

"Maybe the test is just faulty," Regina said, gazing down at the mentioned object. "I've heard of it happening before."

Emma shrugged. "So take another one."

Regina ran her fingers through her hair. "This is so crazy. And unexpected. You know how I feel about-"

"Unexpected things, I know," Emma finished, smiling.

"You also know how I hate being interrupted," Regina said, glaring at Emma.

Emma just laughed. "If you really want confirmation, we can always go see Whale. Or another doctor if you're not comfortable seeing him after the whole Daniel thing."

"I don't want to see any doctor," Regina said. "If this is a magic thing, then you know exactly who I want to see."

"No," Emma groaned. "Please don't say who I think you're going to say. He is the last person that I would want to know."

Regina rolled her eyes. "You're so dramatic. If anyone will know anything about magical babies, it will be Gold."

"Fine," Emma said. "But if he tries to make a deal on our child's life, he's dead."

* * *

The bell overhead greeted Regina and Emma as they walked into Gold's shop. Belle was behind the counter cooing at baby Gideon, and Gold himself was watching them both with a smile on his face.

"Not to ruin your little happy moment, but we have a problem," Regina said.

Emma rolled her eyes. "What Regina means to politely say is that we need your help _when you have a moment_."

"An iconic duo as always," Gold said, chuckling. "What can I do for you?"

Regina glanced at Belle. "This is a very private matter that I would prefer be for your ears only."

Gold went to protest, but Belle just smiled. "I'll just be in the back. It's almost time for Gideon to nap anyway."

The three of them watched her go, and Emma felt a little ache in her heart at seeing Gideon. Hopefully he got a better chance now that he was able to start over a new life with the parents he was supposed to be raised by.

"What's this problem I need to help with?" Gold asked. "Interrupting another wedding? You seem to be good at that."

"Very funny," Regina said. "This has nothing to do with a wedding."

"Or a deal," Emma said quickly. "No deals. We just have a question that we want answered. That's it."

Gold raised his eyebrows. "Deals are what I do, dearie. If you're not willing to make a deal, I can't help you."

"Please," Regina said. "This is important."

"So are a lot of things," Gold said. "And yet I turn down people everyday that don't want to make deals."

"What do you want?" Regina asked.

"Regina," Emma warned. "We could just see a-" Regina shook her head, stopping Emma from finishing her sentence.

"Oh, now I'm intrigued," Gold said, smiling. "What I want is simple. One hair from each of you."

"What?" Emma asked. "That's gross. Are you making some kind of weird voodoo doll for everyone in town?"

Regina laughed. "No. True Love is pretty powerful. If you have a bit of each person, some pretty powerful things can be made with two hairs."

Emma looked at Gold skeptically. "And you won't use this to somehow control us?"

"It doesn't work like that anyway, dearie," Gold said. "Now, hairs please."

Emma and Regina both shared a look before pulling out a hair and putting them in a vial for Gold. He smiled before tucking it out of sight. "Now then. What's your question?"

Regina took a deep breath. "Is it possible for me to get pregnant from magic?"

Gold looked at them in surprise. "That's an interesting question to come to me with."

"Just answer it," Emma said anxiously. "Is it possible for Regina to get pregnant from magic?"

"Yes," Gold said slowly. "I suppose it is. You both know how powerful True Love is, and this is no exception. However, I would see a doctor to fully confirm it."

Regina waved a hand dismissively. "Fine, fine. Will my magic impact the baby at all? Do I need to not use magic?"

Gold shrugged. "Another question for the doctor, not myself. But since you both have magic, and the child was made with True Love, magic shouldn't harm it."

Regina visibly relaxed in relief. "Thank goodness."

The door opened behind them and all three of them jumped at the unexpected sound. Regina and Emma turned towards the door, and immediately blanched at seeing who was in the doorway.

"Mom?" Emma asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing," Snow said quickly. "What are you doing here?"

"We're not doing anything," Emma said quickly. "Just came by to say hi to Gideon and Belle. We were just leaving." She grabbed Regina's hand and they quickly ran from the store, Snow watching them leave in confusion.

"Where are we going?" Regina asked, tugging on Emma's hand to slow her down.

"The next stop on this adventure," Emma said, smirking. "The doctor's office."

Regina groaned. "Wonderful."


	3. Doctor Visit

"Stop fidgeting," Emma said, chuckling. "You're visiting the doctor, not facing a death sentence."

"Might as well be," Regina mumbled, looking around the waiting room anxiously. She didn't know who the doctor was, but it didn't matter. She didn't trust doctors not matter how nice they may seem.

"Will you stop being so dramatic?" Emma asked. "Besides, this may give us an idea of how the whole magical baby thing is going to work."

"I'd imagine the same way as any baby," Regina said.

Emma rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean."

"We already saw the magic expert," Regina said. "It's not like a doctor could tell us anything about magic that Gold wouldn't know."

Emma sighed. "Gold-"

"Isn't always honest, I know," Regina interrupted. "But he is the only knowledgeable person out there about magic. This doctor is just to make sure that the baby is healthy. Besides, all of these doctors were put into their positions by a curse."

"And who's fault was that?" Emma teased.

Regina glared at her. "Technically I was only to blame the first time."

Emma went to retort, but was cut off as a nurse entered the waiting room. "Regina?"

Regina froze in place, so Emma gently grabbed her hand and tugged her to her feet. They followed the nurse back to one of the exam rooms, and went through all of the basic questions required for your very first visit. Emma was practically bouncing in her chair in excitement, while Regina still looked terrified.

"The doctor will be in shortly," the nurse said, smiling at them kindly before leaving the room.

"Will you quit it," Regina hissed as soon as the door shut. "You're making me nauseous with all of your bouncing."

Emma laughed. "I'm just excited. The last time that I went through this whole process I wasn't really excited."

"Right," Regina said, immediately softening. "Sorry."

"Don't be," Emma said quickly. "I get it, this is all overwhelming. But we'll get through it together, like we always do."

The edge of Regina's lip curled up in a smile. "How are you so calm about this?"

"I'm not," Emma said. "I'm just really good at faking it."

The door opened, revealing a young looking woman on the other side. "Hi there! I'm Dr. Green and I'll be your OBGYN for your pregnancy." She held out her hand for Regina to take.

Regina stared at her in shock for a moment before reaching out and shaking her hand. "Nice to meet you."

"And you must be Emma," Dr. Green said, extending her hand out to Emma too. "I've heard wonderful things about you as well."

"As well?" Emma asked, shaking the hand offered to her.

Dr. Green smiled. "Well of course. Everyone knows how you two sacrificed everything to be together. If that doesn't show true bravery, I don't know what does. I'm honored to be your doctor."

Regina and Emma shared a look. This doctor would do.

"Now then, let's just get started," Dr. Green said. "I'm just going to ask some questions and I need you to answer them as honestly as possible. Nothing too painful."

"And if you aren't honest, I'll butt in," Emma said, smirking.

Regina rolled her eyes. "I don't doubt it."

* * *

"See, that wasn't so bad," Emma said, nudging Regina gently.

Regina sighed. "I suppose not. She was rather nice. I think we'll get along rather nicely for the next few months."

"Few months?" Emma said. "You've got longer than that." She laughed, but stopped at the look on Regina's face. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Regina wrapped her arms around herself. "What if I can't do this?"

"What are you talking about?" Emma asked, looking at her in confusion. "Can't do what?"

"This," Regina said, gesturing to her stomach. "I did the raising part, you did the carrying. I don't know the first thing about growing another person inside of me. What if I do something wrong? We don't know if my magic is making her more delicate than normal babies. I could do something wrong and in an instant she'd be gone!"

Emma grabbed Regina's arms and led her over to a bench, forcing her to sit down before kneeling on the ground. "Hey," she said softly. Regina's eyes met hers, and dark brown terror met nothing but a pool of green compassion and love. "I told you before, we're going to do this together. Yes, you're doing the physical act of carrying the baby but that doesn't mean that I can't be there for you in every way possible. You aren't alone, Regina. There is no pressure resting solely on your shoulders. We've got this, okay? One day at a time."

Regina nodded. "One day at a time."

Emma smiled before leaning up to kiss her gently. "You said 'she'."

"What?" Regina asked.

"You said, 'I could do something wrong and she'd be gone'," Emma said.

"Oh," Regina said. "I guess I did say that. It was just a feeling."

Emma stood up and pulled Regina to her feet. "You know, I had a feeling when I was pregnant with Henry."

"You did?" Regina asked, looking at her skeptically.

"Yes," Emma said, chuckling at her look. "Trust me on this. The mother always knows what the baby is going to be. So if you say it's going to be a girl, it's going to be a girl."

"We'll see," Regina said. She smiled, simply enjoying walking with her wife by her side. "You know what this means?"

"What?" Emma asked.

"Now we get to pick out names," Regina said, smirking.

Emma winced. "Oh no."

 **I skipped all of the formal doctor stuff because I personally find that super boring to read about because there's nothing plot-wise that goes on in the first visit. I'll include the actual visit in later chapters. Review please!**


	4. Name Game

**Sorry I haven't posted in awhile; it's been a busy week with lots of homework!**

"Give me that," Emma said playfully, grabbing the baby name book from Regina's hands. "The last thing we need is for to be looking at more names."

Regina laughed. "I haven't been that bad."

"Every time you walk into a room, you say a new name," Emma said. "You're the one that wants to keep this hidden for longer, but you're not doing a very good job of it."

"You're not the only one who's excited," Regina shot back at her.

Emma looked down at the book in her hands and sighed before sitting down next to Regina on the couch. "I know." She flipped through the pages of the book, a smile slowly spreading onto her face. "You've only marked girl names."

Regina shrugged. "I told you. I have a feeling."

Emma chuckled and closed the book before setting it on the coffee table and leaning back into the couch cushions. "Why is it that this feels like the biggest responsibility out of everything that having a child requires?"

"Because the name is something that you're known as forever. You can't change it," Regina said. "Well you can, but it's not respectful to your parents who put all of that effort into picking out the name for you."

"What are you guys doing?" Henry asked, walking into the room.

Regina quickly flicked her wrist, getting rid of the baby book. They had yet to tell him, and this was not how they wanted him to find out. "Nothing."

Henry rolled his eyes. "I'm 17 mom, not 7. Clearly you two are up to something."

"We're planning a surprise," Emma said quickly, before Regina could say anything else. "And we both know how hard it is for you to keep secrets from your grandparents, so you'll just get to be surprised along with them."

Henry shrugged. "Fair enough. Snow has this way of getting secrets out of everyone."

"Or spilling them to everyone," Regina mumbled, earning herself a glare from Emma and a smirk from Henry.

"Funny," Emma said, gently hitting her wife. "Really funny."

Regina laughed. "I thought so. Henry did too."

"Don't wrap me into this!" Henry protested, backing out of the room. "I'm innocent!"

Regina and Emma both laughed, listening until his footsteps faded. "We're going to have to tell him sooner rather than later," Emma said. "He's going to figure it out, and I hate hiding things from him."

"I know," Regina said. "I do too. But it needs to right. He's used to being the only child."

"It's not like he's a little kid and is going to throw a fit if he isn't getting enough attention," Emma said. "He's almost an adult, and he'll be leaving for-"

"Don't finish that sentence," Regina warned. "I don't want to think about it."

"You're going to have to get used to it at some point," Emma said gently. "You know Henry; he isn't going to want to stick around here forever; no matter how much you beg him to stay."

Regina sighed. "I know."

They sat in silence for several seconds before Emma laughed. "What if we told my mom first? The whole town could know by noon."

Regina picked up a pillow and threw it at her.

* * *

"Lola," Emma said, walking into Regina's office the next morning.

Regina looked up from the paperwork on her desk. "What?"

"Our daughter's name," Emma said, sitting across from Regina. "Lola."

"Where did you get that from?" Regina asked. "I thought I was the one reading the baby book."

"It's not from the baby book," Emma said. "It's from a diner that I visited while I was on the run trying to find myself and whatnot while running from the foster system. I somehow landed in Illinois and there was this diner. I walked inside and everyone stared at me before the lady behind the counter came around and asked me if I was lost. She must have been the owner, since her name was Lola."

"Did you run?" Regina asked, leaning forward. She had never heard this story before, and it still amazed her how much of Emma's past that she had to learn.

"No," Emma said, smiling. "Her presence was calming. I said that some bad people were after me, which in my mind they were, and she sat me down at a booth and brought me a full meal on the house. And when I was finished she gave me a map of the state and her number to call if I needed anything else."

Regina looked at her in surprise. "She didn't call the police on you?"

Emma shook her head. "I ended up calling her a week later on a payphone while I was traveling to thank her for helping me and she told me that social services had been through looking for me. She told me that she didn't know what I had been through, but that I would always be welcome at her diner for a free meal if I ever needed it."

"Lola," Regina said, feeling the name in her mouth. "I like it."

"You do?" Emma asked in surprise.

Regina nodded. "It's pretty, and has a good story behind it. There should be more people like Lola in the world."

Emma smiled. "Lola it is."

"What about a middle name?" Regina asked.

"That's for you to pick out," Emma said. "I thought of her first name, you're in charge of her middle name."

Regina pursed her lips and leaned back in her chair as she thought about it. "Maria."

"Maria?" Emma asked. "Why Maria?"

"I had a maid named Maria when I was little girl," Regina said. "After every punishment that my mother gave me, she was always the one sent to calm me down by my mother because she got annoyed with my crying."

"Of course she did," Emma said bitterly.

Regina smiled at her. "Anyway, Maria was always so kind and gentle towards me. She constantly assured me that no matter what my mother told me, I was beautiful and such a wonderful daughter. And that, if fate should have it, I would be a wonderful queen."

"Wow," Emma said. "I like Maria."

"I did too," Regina said, smiling.

"So," Emma said. "Lola Maria Swan-Mills."

"It's perfect," Regina said, resting a hand on her abdomen. "Lola Maria Swan-Mills."

 **Lola's Diner is a real place in case you were wondering! And in case you're wondering how I really got Lola Maria (since those backstories were my own invention) Lola is the name of Lana's dog, and Maria is Lana's middle name. Ta da!**


	5. Telling Henry

**Hello again! Sorry that it's been so long, things have been extremely crazy between homework for classes and marching band rehearsals. Anywho, enjoy this chapter!**

Regina was having a perfectly fine morning, and then Emma had to go and ruin it. Granted, the morning hadn't involved much yet since she had just woken up, but still.

"Are you going to respond or just lie there?" Emma teased, looking over at her.

Regina sighed before rolling over to face her. "It isn't a good idea to tell him right now."

"Why not?" Emma asked. "He's going to notice sooner or later that something is going on. He's not stupid. Besides, he already knows that we're up to something. Do you not remember him walking in on us with the name book?"

"And do you not remember me saying that I want this to be done right?" Regina countered. "Even when he was little, Henry always wanted a younger sibling. I need it to be right."

Emma looked at her, confused. "If he's always wanted a sibling, how could telling him go wrong? Wouldn't he be super excited?"

"I just don't want to tell him yet," Regina said, rolling over and getting out of bed.

"Regina," Emma said, following her. "You're already several weeks along. He's going to notice, and is that how you want him to find out?"

"Of course not," Regina said, before tensing. "The book."

"What book?" Emma asked. "The name book? You're the one that put that back where-"

"No not that book," Regina said, walking past Emma and opening the door to their bedroom. She practically ran down the stairs and into the living room, Emma hot on her trail.

"What in the world are you doing?" Emma asked. "What are you looking for?"

"The story book!" Regina exclaimed, frantically searching around for it. "You know, the book that updates itself every time that something new and big happens?"

Emma just watched as Regina scrambled around the room. "I don't get it. Why do you need the book?"

"Because the book is based off of our stories," Regina said. "I'm in there, and so are you. So unless you want Henry to find out by reading the book I suggest you help me find it."

"My parents have it," Emma said. "Remember? They wanted to read the stories to Neal for bedtime now that he's getting old enough to kind of understand what's going on."

"Right," Regina said, visibly relaxing. She sat on the couch, leaning back into the cushions. "Sorry for the brief freak-out."

Emma laughed before walking over and sitting next to her. "You know; you still haven't told me why you don't want Henry to know yet."

Regina sighed. "The Dark Curse froze time, correct?"

"Yeah," Emma said. "What does that have to do with this?"

"I casted that curse when I was 37," Regina said. "It froze everyone's age, and of course what we looked like."

"Right," Emma said. "So? Are we having another discussion about how old you are compared to me? Because I thought we had finally reached some sort of agreement on that."

Regina rolled her eyes. "No. This discussion is about the fact that right now my body thinks that it is 42. At the age of 42, the chance of a miscarriage in the first trimester is 50%. Not to mention the fact that I had a curse preventing me from getting pregnant in the first place, so I'm sure that bumped it up as well."

Emma's jaw dropped in surprise. She hadn't been expecting that. "Regina-"

"I won't tell Henry that he's going to be a big brother and then lose this baby," Regina said. "I can't do that to him."

"And you won't," Emma said strongly, grabbing Regina's hand. "That baby would not have been created if this wasn't supposed to happen. I know that you think that fate sucks and is against you, but for once it isn't. This baby, our Lola, is going to come into this world." She squeezed Regina's hand gently. "We don't have to tell Henry right now. If it makes you feel better, we can wait until the first trimester is over. And then we'll tell him."

"Thank you," Regina said. She smiled at Emma before her eyes widened. "If your parents are reading the book to Neal, then our previous problem still stands."

Emma looked at her in confusion before realization hit her. "We need to get that book."

* * *

"How exactly are we supposed to explain why we need the book?" Emma asked.

"Follow my lead," Regina said. "I lied to your mother and countless others for years. One more thing shouldn't hurt."

Emma rolled her eyes. "How nice of you."

Regina laughed before knocking on the door. David answered immediately, bouncing Neal lightly on his hip. "Hey you guys. What a nice surprise. Right buddy?" He looked at Neal and smiled.

"Isn't he getting too old for that?" Emma asked, mimicking the bouncing motion.

David shrugged. "Figured I would cherish it while I can."

"Right," Regina said. "Well as cute as that is, I need the book that you've been reading to him for story time."

"Why?" David asked. "He loves having the stories read to him. I think he's finally starting to understand them."

"Can't wait for the day he finds out who the Evil Queen is," Regina said, crossing her arms. "He sure seems to love me now. I wonder what will happen when he learns the truth."

"Right," David said. "I've just gotten so used to you being on our side that I forgot that you once weren't. I'll go get it." He set Neal down in his play pen before walking back to his bedroom to get the book.

"That was good," Emma whispered to Regina.

Regina smiled and winked at her. "Told you."

"I can't find it," David said apologetically, coming back out. "I wonder if maybe Snow took it to school with her? Sometimes she reads it to the younger kids during recess."

"During recess?" Emma asked.

David shrugged. "Some kids don't like playing outside. So she reads to them instead."

"Great," Regina mumbled.

"All of those kids know that you've changed though," David said quickly. "So it's not like there's something in there they wouldn't already know about. I'm sure their parents have told them the stories already."

"I think we'll just give her a call and see if she even has it," Emma said, grabbing Regina's arm and pulling her towards the front door. "If she doesn't, then I guess we'll have some looking to do!"

Emma quickly walked out the door, dragging Regina behind her. David looked after them both in confusion.

"You're not as good at that as I am," Regina teased.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Just get in the car. We need that book."

* * *

"Emma!" Snow said happily, walking over and giving her a hug. "This is an unexpected surprise. Not that I'm complaining. I love seeing you."

Emma smiled at Snow, hugging her back. "You see me all the time."

"I know," Snow said, pulling away from her. "And I'll never get sick of it."

"Your classroom appears to be empty," Regina said.

"It's recess time," Snow said. "All of the kids are outside playing. Gives them a chance to burn off some energy and take a break from learning."

"Kids don't stay inside?" Emma asked, playing dumb.

"Only some of the younger ones," Snow said. "Usually I go down to their classroom and read the story book to them, but Henry asked for the book back so now I just tell them stories about my time as a princess. They love those."

"Henry asked for the book back?" Regina asked. "When was this?"

"This morning," Snow said, looking at Regina and Emma in concern. "Was I not supposed to? If you both are trying to get him to stop reading it-"

"We're just concerned about his Author powers," Regina said, interrupting her. "He should be home by now, the high school lunch period just started and he comes home for lunch." She grabbed Emma's hand, pulling her towards the door.

"Oh, ok," Snow said, looking a little disappointed. "Have a good day!"

Emma and Regina didn't even hear her. They were already gone.

* * *

"Henry!" Regina called, running into the house.

"What?" Henry asked, coming out from the kitchen. "I just came home for lunch; I swear I didn't do anything." He looked at Emma and Regina for a second. "Why are you guys panting?"

"Doesn't matter," Emma said. "Do you have the storybook?"

"Yeah I got it back this morning," Henry said skeptically. "Why?"

"I need it," Regina said. "Where is it?"

"In my backpack," Henry said. "Why do you need it? Did something happen?"

"No," Emma said. "We just...um."

Henry looked back and forth between Regina and Emma before rolling his eyes. "You both suck at lying to me, you know that?"

Regina sighed before walking past Henry and into the kitchen. He always threw his backpack on the floor as soon as he got home, something that bothered her to no end. This time, however, it worked in her favor. She pulled the book out and quickly opened the book to the last page, sighing in relief when nothing about her pregnancy was there.

"What's going on?" Henry demanded. "Someone better start talking."

"It's nothing," Emma said.

"Stop lying!" Henry said, frustrated. "I can tell that something is going on, which is why I asked for the book back. But it hasn't revealed anything. So someone start talking. Please."

Emma looked at Regina, waiting for her to say something. After all, she was the one who had reservations about it.

"Henry, you know that I hate keeping things from you," Regina said gently.

"So don't," Henry said. "I know that you're going to finish that sentence most likely saying that it's something that I won't understand or it's something that you need to work through on your own. But you don't. I'm old enough to understand, and you're not alone. I'm not that little kid anymore than avoided you and ran away because I thought you were evil. You're just my mom. So whatever it is, just tell me okay?"

Regina looked at Henry in surprise before looking at Emma, who looked as surprised as she was. Without saying anything, Regina set the book down and walked over to Henry, hugging him tightly. "I don't know what I did to deserve you."

"You raised me," Henry said, hugging her back. "This is all your doing."

Regina laughed, squeezing him gently before letting go. "Okay. What I'm about to tell you cannot leave this house. Understand? It's very important."

"Okay," Henry said. "You have my word."

Regina looked at Emma who just smiled at her. This was Regina's job. Emma would get the fun job of telling Snow and David.

Regina took a deep breath before deciding to just blurt it out and see what would happen. "I'm pregnant. You're going to be a big brother."

Henry looked at her in shock before smiling and hugging her again. "Really? Are you serious? Is that why you wanted the book? To see if it was in there?"

Regina nodded. "We didn't want you to find out from the book and not us."

Henry let go of her. "Why didn't you want to tell me?"

Regina winced and looked at Emma for help with this one. Emma cleared her throat to get Henry's attention. "Your mom has some health concerns that are primarily in the first trimester, so she wanted to wait until those risks passed."

"Oh," Henry said. "I get it." He looked at Regina and smiled. "You don't have to always protect me, you know."

"Yes I do," Regina said simply. "You're my little prince."

Henry rolled his eyes. He went to say something else before looking at the clock. "Shoot I'm going to be late to class. I love you, bye!"

Regina and Emma laughed as Henry grabbed his backpack and ran out the front door. "That went well," Emma said.

"Wasn't what I was expecting," Regina said. "Or how I thought it would go."

"He's a good kid," Emma said. "You did good."

Regina smiled. "So what happens?"

"What?" Emma asked.

"What happens when I miscarry?" Regina asked. "We both know that he'll be disappointed but will act like everything is fine for my sake. So will you."

"Regina, listen to me," Emma said commanded. "Nothing is going to happen. That baby growing inside of you right now is going to grow and continue to grow through all three of your trimesters. Then she is going to be born, and she's going to be the happiest and healthiest baby girl in this whole world. You can't keep thinking that because you were a villain you're going to have bad karma for the rest of your life. You paid the price for what you did. Now you get to enjoy being happy. Understand?"

Regina nodded. "I'm just so scared."

Emma quickly wrapped her arms around Regina. "I know. But we're going to get through this the way we get through everything else. Together."

 **Lol this is so long. Consider it me making up for the lack of chapters the past few days. Review!**

 **P.S. I tried to do the math to figure out how old Regina is. If it's not right, pretend it is. I suck at math, and nobody in the fan forums can decide how old she is either.**


	6. No More Magic

**Me again! Gotta love college life. Here's your newest chapter, and don't forget to review!**

After telling Henry, another month passed uneventfully. Regina's pregnancy was going smoothly, and Dr. Green was pleased with how the baby was growing. Which was unfortunate for Regina, since the beginnings of her baby bump were starting to show.

She switched to wearing looser clothing, but knew after a while that even the loosest clothing possible wouldn't be able to hide what was going on.

Regina was thinking about how to approach the subject of telling Emma's parents, when she walked into Regina's office. "I need your help."

"The Savior admitting to needed help?" Regina teased. "What a concept." She smiled at Emma, but the smile was quickly replaced with a concerned look when she saw Emma's expression. "What's wrong?"

Emma sighed before sitting in the chair across from Regina's desk. "Hook had a little too much to drink, and my dad answered the call to go get him and bring him in to sober up."

"And?" Regina asked, confused. "It's not the first time that David has had to go lure Hook into the cell for the night."

"He started a fight and got my dad's gun," Emma said. "He's holding the whole bar hostage at the moment. Snow is hysterical, and the rest of the town that isn't in the bar is outside of the bar panicking."

Regina's eyes widened. "What do you want me to do?"

"Come with me to take him out," Emma said. "I walk in the front to distract him, you sneak in the back and knock him out with magic."

Regina shook her head. "If he has hostages, he'll kill you the moment you step in that building."

"He's sober," Emma argued. "The alcohol wore off by now, but there's no going back. He already has hostages, and we need to take him down. Please. I need your help."

Regina sighed before nodding. "Let's go take out a pirate."

* * *

"You really weren't kidding," Regina said, getting out of the passenger side of Emma's bug. "The whole town is here."

"Unfortunately, we can't ask them to leave," Emma said. At Regina's questioning look she explained. "If people suddenly leave, he'll know that something is up. Could make him panic even more and hurt someone."

"Right," Regina said. "So how do we do this?"

Emma drew her gun. "You're sneaking around back. I'll walk in the front and keep him busy until you can knock him out. Deal?"

Regina nodded before quickly walking around the back of the building and slipping inside. If she was honest with herself, she was scared to use magic. She hadn't since she had learned of her pregnancy, even though Dr. Green had seen no problem with it.

As Emma walked towards the front door, she saw quick moment inside. Not wanting to waste anymore time at the risk of someone getting hurt, she quickly opened the door and went inside of the bar. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the darker lighting, and she was surprised to see Hook sitting casually at one of the tables right inside the door.

"Put that thing away," Hook said, taking another drink out of the glass in front of him. "We're all friends here."

"Sure we are," Emma said, watching as he waved around the gun he was holding. "Why don't you give me the gun and then we can talk."

"Talk about what?" Hook said, slurring his words. "How you gave me up for the Evil Queen? You must have a thing for villains." He laughed, but Emma just kept her gun pointed at him. Guess he hadn't sobered up after all.

Emma glanced up and saw Regina hiding in the shadows. She nodded at Emma, showing her that she was ready for whatever happened next. Emma nodded back at her, switching her focus back to Hook, who had yet to move.

"Put the gun down," Emma commanded. "You aren't going to use it, so put it down on the table and push it towards me."

"Or what?" Hook asked, aiming the gun at one of the hostages, who gasped and began shaking in fear. "By the time that you shot me right now, my bullet would already have killed that woman right over there. I think I run the show right now."

"And what do you want?" Emma asked.

Hook smiled and stood up from where he was sitting. He was taller than Emma, but not by a lot. Unfortunately, he blocked Regina's line of sight. She couldn't see when she needed to knock Hook out.

"I want you," Hook said, reaching out to play with Emma's hair. "It's always been you and I. You just lost your way. But I can help you see where you truly belong."

"Now you sound like a psychopath," Emma said.

Hook's eyes flashed in anger. "I'm not crazy!"

Regina took that as her cue to knock him out. She felt the magic gather in her, but gasped in pain and fell to the ground when she went to use it, her arms wrapped tightly around her.

Hook turned to see what the commotion was, and Emma took that as her chance to take David's gun from him. He turned back to face her, and she punched him as hard as she could. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

All of the hostages quickly got up and ran from the building, all except for David who came over and got his gun from Emma. After giving David his gun, she walked quickly over to where Regina was sitting against the wall.

"What happened?" Emma asked, crouching down in front of her. Worry was evident on her face.

"I don't know," Regina said. "The pain is slowly fading."

"Pain?" Emma asked, getting even more worried.

Regina nodded. "When I went to use my magic to knock out Hook, nothing happened and I felt this searing pain in my abdomen."

"Abdomen," Emma repeated. Her worry turned to determined as she grabbed Regina's hand and helped pull her to her feet. "We need to see the doctor. Right now."

* * *

"Well this is certainly a new development," Dr. Green said, walking into the exam room.

"Is that a good or a bad thing?" Regina asked.

"Both," Dr. Green said, smiling as Regina glared at her. "Relax, I'll explain. Since your little peanut is a product of True Love, her soul is the purest that you can get. Especially since she has that extra little spark of Savior magic."

Regina nodded in understanding. "She blocked my magic so I couldn't hurt Hook."

"Precisely," Dr. Green said. "That's an act of Dark Magic, which that little baby of yours doesn't approve of. She got your attention by blocking your magic and making you feel pain."

"What a charmer," Regina mumbled.

Dr. Green laughed. "Unfortunately, that ties into the bad news."

"Which is?" Emma asked, looking concerned again.

"Nothing bad for you," Dr. Green said to Emma quickly. "This is only for the carrier of the baby."

"Great," Regina groaned. "What is this bad news meant only for me?"

"No more magic," Dr. Green said, smiling at Regina apologetically. "With how the baby reacted this time, more magic could just cause it more stress. I don't want to risk that."

Regina sighed. "You've got to be kidding me. I've been using magic since Gold taught me how all those years ago. It's a habit."

"Which is why we have these on hand," Dr. Green said, holding up the magic cuff.

Regina's eyes widened as she saw it. "No way. Not going to happen."

Emma quickly grabbed her hand to calm her down. "She's had a bad experience with those before. If we can, it would be nice to avoid that."

"Then she's going to need to be watched to make sure there are no slip-ups," Dr. Green said.

"A babysitter?" Regina scoffed. "You've got to be kidding me. I don't need a babysitter to make sure that I don't use magic. I have more control than that."

Dr. Green shrugged. "Suit yourself. But this is for the baby's safety. Remember that." She left the room without another word, leaving Emma and Regina alone.

"Some kid we have huh?" Emma teased, smiling at Regina.

"Some kid," Regina agreed, chuckling. "If you get me a babysitter, I'll kick your ass."

Emma burst out laughing. "Duly noted."

 **This is what happens when I binge-watch Criminal Minds and then write a chapter. Oh well!**


	7. Slip Up

**It's been so long! I'm so sorry you guys, but the motivation to write has been leaving me. But I promise that I'm back now, and since the new season started tonight my obsession is being fueled. And who knows, maybe it'll give me new ideas :)**

Since Regina's doctor appointment a month ago stating that she could no longer use magic, she was being extra careful. As much as she hated it, she knew that it was necessary. So far no one had asked questions or had noticed that she wasn't even using magic. And Emma had kept to her word and hadn't gotten her a babysitter.

But the problem still arose that sooner or later people would find out. Regina couldn't hide her pregnancy forever.

"I still suggest we tell my mom," Emma said, sitting next to Regina on their bed. "We tell her in the morning and the whole town would know by noon."

"Absolutely not," Regina said. "There are certain people that I don't want ever knowing."

"Yeah I don't think that's possible," Emma said. "We live in a small town, and we're up there as two of the most popular people. The town will notice."

Regina sighed before flopping back on the pillows. "I hate it when you're right."

Both women looked over at the door as they heard a soft knock. "I think I can help with your problem," Henry said, walking into the room.

"How?" Emma asked. She fully trusted Henry to come up with something that Regina would agree with. He had an imagination that no one could rival, and it usually led to the best ideas.

"I know that you don't like the idea of Snow being the first one to know," Henry said to Regina. "And I understand why. But what if she worked it out for herself?"

Regina looked at Henry in confusion. "How would that work?"

Henry shrugged. "I don't know. She's been pregnant before, so obviously she knows the signs. If you're having a conversation with her, subtly slip little hints in there like how you have the weirdest cravings for vanilla ice cream and strawberry jam now."

"It's not that weird of a craving," Regina protested. "It's not like I'm dipping pickles in peanut butter."

Emma laughed. "I think what Henry is trying to say is that there's ways to drop hints in conversation that would allow her to figure it out on her own."

"And then what, she starts spreading rumors?" Regina asked. "Not exactly the best way for everyone else to find out."

"That's not how she works," Emma said. "She'll confront you about it first. That's your chance to confirm it. Then you're not just coming out and telling her, but she knows."

Regina sighed before running her fingers through her hair. "Fine. We'll try it and see what happens."

* * *

"Good morning," Snow greeted happily, walking into Regina's office the next morning. "How are you doing?"

"As well as I can be," Regina said, smiling at her.

Snow looked at her in concern. "Is everything okay?"

"Just fine," Regina said, waving away her concern. "I'm finally not getting sick in the mornings anymore. It's the weirdest thing, only ever in the mornings. I thought it was some kind of flu, but I'm glad that it's gone now."

Snow's eyes widened. "You've been getting sick...in the morning?"

"Yes," Regina said slowly. "I'm sure it was nothing to worry about, it's gone now. Anyway, do you have the paperwork that I requested?"

"Have you been eating anything weird lately?" Snow asked, ignoring Regina's question. "Or had the urge to eat something you normally wouldn't?"

Regina looked at her in confusion. "Nothing weird, no. Why do you ask?"

"But you've been eating something you normally wouldn't?" Snow pressed. She was hot on a trail and she wasn't about to let it go now. If Regina was what she thought she was, then she needed to talk to Emma right away.

"What are you getting at?" Regina demanded. "The only thing I've eaten that isn't normal for me is ice cream. That's not weird."

Snow's jaw dropped. She set the paperwork that Regina needed on her desk before hurrying from the office. She needed to go see Emma.

* * *

"Whoa, where's the fire?" Emma teased as Snow practically came running into her office. The smile on her face quickly melted as she saw Snow's facial expression. "What's wrong? You look angry."

"Regina's cheating on you," Snow blurted out.

Emma's eyes widened. "What? What are you talking about? Why do you think that?"

"I went into her office to give her some paperwork that she needed and I asked how she was," Snow said quickly. "She told me she's been getting sick in the mornings and has been eating ice cream. Ice cream, Emma. She never eats that stuff."

Emma had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Henry had been right. "So why does that mean she's been cheating on me?"

Snow sighed and looked at Emma in exasperation. "Come on, you've been pregnant before. Surely you know the signs."

Emma smiled at Snow. "Henry was right. You did catch on really quickly. Although I thought that you would confront her about it, not me. I owe Regina $10."

Snow's jaw dropped. "You know she's pregnant?"

"Of course she does," Regina said, walking into Emma's office. She had figured that Emma was who Snow had gone to see. "She's the one who got me pregnant in the first place."

Snow's jaw dropped. "That's not possible. You don't have a...um...a-"

Emma cleared her throat awkwardly, trying to hide how red she was turning. "I'm just going to stop you before you go too much farther."

Regina smirked at how red Emma was turning before turning to Snow. "True Love is a powerful thing. You know this."

"Well yes," Snow said. "I didn't know it was this powerful."

"Surprise," Emma said, smiling. Her face had returned back to its normal color. "Anyway, we figured you would be a good first person outside of our immediate family to know."

Snow rolled her eyes. "You just knew that I would tell everyone because I was so excited. Which I am, by the way. I'm happy for you both." She smiled before hugging both of them tightly.

"Hang on a minute," Emma said, turning to Regina. "How did you get here so fast? You work in City Hall."

Regina cleared her throat and looked away from Emma. "You know I really should get back to work; I have a long walk ahead of me to get back to my office."

"Walk?" Snow asked. "I thought you just poofed."

"She's not supposed to be using magic," Emma said, glaring at Regina. Regina winced at Emma's tone. She was in big trouble.

"What's going on in here?" David asked, walking into Emma's office. "Did I miss the party?"

"No actually I have something to tell you," Snow said, grabbing David's hand and pulling him back to his desk. She had a feeling Emma and Regina needed to be alone.

"I really do need to go back to work," Regina said, backing slowly towards the door. "Lots of paperwork to get done."

With a flick of her wrist, Emma closed and locked the door. "Sit," she commanded, pointing to the chair across from her desk.

Regina slowly walked over and sat down, still not meeting Emma's eyes. Emma walked around her desk and kneeled in front of Regina, reaching out and tilting her chin so their eyes met. "You know you aren't supposed to use magic."

"It was an accident," Regina said softly. "I didn't even know that I had done it until I was here. Nothing bad happened."

"That's not the point," Emma said firmly. "The point is that you aren't supposed to use it at all so nothing bad happens. What if something did happen?"

"I know," Regina said guiltily, looking away from Emma. "I'm an awful mother. Couldn't keep the first child with me and now I'm harming the second one."

"Hey, hey," Emma said, grabbing her hand and squeezing it gently. "I did not say that."

"It was implied," Regina mumbled.

"Like hell it was," Emma said. "What I meant is that you need to take care of yourself. I can tell that using magic drains your energy twice as fast now as it did before."

Regina looked at her in surprise. "You noticed that?"

"Before you got the rule of no magic I did," Emma said. "And just now when you walked in. That's how I could tell you used it."

"Maybe I do need a babysitter," Regina said, chuckling.

Emma laughed. "No you don't. I have faith in you. Just be careful, okay?"

"Okay," Regina said, smiling. Emma smiled back at her before pulling her down for a kiss.

They both broke apart at the sound of a knock on the door. David stuck his head in, grinning. "No more of that," he teased. "That's how I'm suddenly a grandpa."

Regina burst out laughing while Emma turned bright red. "Thanks Dad."

David laughed. "Anytime. Congrats."

Emma buried her face in her hands as David left her office. "Why do we have to live in the same town as my parents?"

Regina shrugged. "I was here first. You showed up and had to ruin everything. Your fault."

Emma reached over and playfully smacked Regina's leg, causing her to laugh. "It could have been worse."

"How could that be any worse?" Emma said. "Between Snow's reaction and David's comment how could this possibly get more embarrassing?"

Regina shrugged. "They could have lectured you on the proper use of-"

"Regina," Emma warned. Regina just started laughing again. "Glad to see that your mood has improved."

"Oh come on," Regina teased. "I thought that was rather funny."

Emma rolled her eyes playfully. "Don't you have work to get done?"

"I do," Regina said, standing up. "Have fun doing sheriffy things."

"That's not a word," Emma said in amusement, smiling at her. Regina was so proper with her words and grammar that it was hard not to tease her when she said something improper.

Regina shrugged. "It's a word now." She walked to the door of Emma's office, opening it and getting ready to leave.

"Hey," Emma called after her.

Regina turned back to her with a raised eyebrow. "What?" If Emma was about to mention again how she wasn't supposed to poof…

"I love you," Emma said, smiling at her.

Regina smiled back at her. "I love you too." She left Emma's office, closing the door behind her. As she walked back to City Hall, she couldn't wipe the smile from her face. And for once, she was okay with that.


	8. Tired and Irritable

**Just to clarify where we're at, Regina is 4 months pregnant in this chapter**

"I wouldn't go in there if I was you," Regina's secretary said to Emma, glancing over her shoulder at Regina's closed door. "She's been blowing up on people all morning."

Emma laughed. "That bad huh?"

The secretary nodded. "She's normally scary, but this morning is a whole new level. Even Granny left her office looking scared out of her mind and that woman isn't afraid of anything."

"I'll handle it," Emma said, shaking her head and laughing as she walked away. Regina was getting more tired, and with the tiredness came irritability. Emma had tried to convince her to get more sleep, but Regina had refused. She had claimed she was just pregnant, not invalid.

Emma knocked softly on Regina's office door, waiting for her permission to enter. There was no way that she was just going to walk in. At Regina's "come in" she opened the door and slipped inside. She shut the door quietly behind her, not wanting to startle Regina from her work.

"Surprise," Emma said, smiling. Regina didn't even look up from her work. Emma sighed before walking over and putting her hands on Regina's desk.

Regina looked up at Emma's hands. "You're going to get smudges on my desk."

"I don't even get a hi?" Emma asked, sitting down in the chair across from Regina's desk. "Someone's in a bad mood."

Regina rolled her eyes. "I am not in a bad mood."

"Uh huh," Emma said. "Your secretary warned me that you even scared Granny."

A smiled tugged at the edge of Regina's lips. "I'm not that bad."

"Please," Emma scoffed. "You're scary on a normal day. Throw in hormones and it's like the Evil Queen times ten."

Regina laughed. "I didn't mean to scare anyone. I'm just irritated that I'm tired all the time and I may be taking it out on other people."

Emma snorted. "May be."

Regina glared at her. "Watch it or I'll come after you next."

"You stopped scaring me a long time ago," Emma said. "The only time you're actually scary is when you're threatening to get rid of the coffee in the house."

"If I'm not allowed to drink it you shouldn't get to either," Regina argued. "Technically this is your fault."

Emma laughed. "You can't just assign blame and then take away my coffee!"

"I can," Regina said. "Not that I mind the visit, but why did you come here?"

Emma shrugged. "Just wanted to come say hi and check on how you were doing. And possibly convince you to go home and take a nap during your lunch break."

Regina rolled her eyes. "You know that I'm not going to do that."

"You're tired," Emma said. "It's easy to see that. Just go home and take a short nap and recharge before coming back to work. No one will think anything of it."

"A nap does sound nice," Regina sighed. "I'll think about it."

Emma smiled at her before getting up. "That's all I wanted."

* * *

Emma entered the mansion as quietly as possible. She had gotten a call from Regina's secretary saying that she had left for lunch and had never returned. Thankfully, she had already cancelled Regina's meetings for the rest of the day so she didn't need to worry about them.

The mansion was quiet, something that Emma wasn't used to. There was always something going on. It's how the town worked.

Emma first checked the living room. There were times lately where Regina had been too tired to even make an effort to go upstairs and fell asleep on the couch. Thankfully, she wasn't there this time. She was always sore after sleeping there.

Being mindful of the stair that creaked, Emma snuck upstairs to her and Regina's bedroom. Regina was burrowed under the covers, laying on her left side with her pregnancy pillow in between her legs. Ever since she had read that this helped the blood flow to the placenta, she insisted on sleeping that way.

Emma slowly sat down next to her, brushing some of her hair out of her face. Sleeping was really the only time that Regina didn't look like the world was resting on her shoulders.

"You're lost in thought," Regina said softly, her voice thick with sleep.

Emma jumped at hearing her voice. She hadn't realized that Regina had woken up. "Sorry."

Regina slowly rolled over onto her back before stretching. "I hate to say it, but you were right. The nap did help."

"Good," Emma said, smiling. "Although you should probably head back to work."

Regina looked at her in confusion before glancing over at the clock. Her eyes widened and she quickly sat up and threw off the covers. "I napped for 3 hours?"

Emma laughed as Regina quickly got dressed back into her work clothes. "Relax, your secretary cancelled your meetings for the rest of the day."

"Bless her," Regina sighed in relief. "She deserves a raise."

"For putting up with you all the time?" Emma teased. "She deserves more than a raise for that."

Regina glared at her. "If I could use magic right now you better believe I would."

Emma just smiled at her before getting up and kissing her on the cheek. "I have to go back to the station. Have a good rest of your day at work."

Regina blew her a kiss as she put on her jacket. "Have fun catching bad guys."

"You know it," Emma said. "Don't fall asleep on your desk." She winked at Regina before quickly leaving the room.

Regina rolled her eyes before reaching for her shoe. "Smartass."

 **Shorter chapter today, but just lots of fluff!**


	9. Quickening

Regina sat at her desk, humming to herself as she got ready for her meeting with Archie. This time he was coming to see her, not the other way around. Thank goodness.

Her humming abruptly stopped and she froze as she felt a flutter in her stomach. She held her breath for several seconds before slowly letting it out. The flutter was gone.

"You behave in there," Regina said, gently rubbing her hand over her abdomen. "No causing trouble today."

"Regina?" Archie asked, walking into her office. "I knocked but you didn't answer. Is everything alright?"

Regina smiled at him. "Just great. Take a seat."

Archie looked at her skeptically. By now the whole town knew that she was pregnant, and at 5 months along, Regina was thankful for it. She wasn't going to be able to hide her pregnancy forever. Especially with how nosy everyone in the town was.

Regina looked up as Archie cleared his throat. "Sorry. I'm very spacy this morning."

"It's quite alright," Archie said, smiling at her. "Are you sure there's nothing that you wanted to talk about?"

"You came to see me, not the other way around," Regina said. "Now then, what can I do for you?"

"I was thinking about maybe building a dog park," Archie said. "More people in town are adopting pets and it would be a great chance for other people to meet."

Regina smirked at him. "Are you just looking for somewhere to put Pongo so he stops running away from you?"

"You caught me," Archie said, smiling at her. "In all honesty though, it might be a great idea for not just Pongo, but other dogs too. Build more of a community."

"It does sound like a good idea," Regina agreed. She went to say more, but froze again as she felt the flutters she had before.

"Regina?" Archie asked, looking at her in concern. "Are you okay?"

"Just fine," Regina said, pushing back her chair and standing up. Without realizing it, she had places a hand on her abdomen. "We'll have to continue this another time I'm afraid. See my secretary on your way out."

Before Archie could say anything, Regina had hurried from her office. He looked after her in concern. She had finally gotten her happy ending. Things couldn't go wrong again for her, could they?

* * *

"Something's wrong," Regina said, hurrying into Emma's office and closing the door behind her. She knew that David was probably watching them, but she didn't care. "I had to poof and I'm sorry for using magic but I was freaking out and needed to get here."

"Slow down," Emma said soothingly, getting up from behind her desk and walking over to Regina. "Why do you think that there's something wrong?"

Regina grabbed Emma's hand and placed in on her lower abdomen. "There's this fluttering right here. That's not normal is it? It can't be normal. There's something wrong, I knew that fate would catch up to me eventually and now is has and-"

"Regina," Emma interrupted gently, smiling at her. "There's nothing wrong."

"Why are you smiling?" Regina asked.

"Because," Emma said, still smiling. "What you're feeling isn't bad at all. It's great actually. You have nothing to worry about."

Regina bit her lip and looked at Emma uncertainly. "What is it?"

"She's kicking," Emma said. She was unable to wipe the smile from her face, and she laughed when she saw Regina's face turn from uncertainty to bewilderment.

Regina placed her hand over Emma's, staring in wonder at her abdomen where their baby girl was tucked safely away. "Kicking."

"Believe me, when Henry kicked for the first time I also thought something was wrong," Emma said, chuckling. "And I reacted just how you did."

"Does it mean she's healthy?" Regina asked.

Emma nodded. "It means she's growing and just wanted to say hello. It'll become easier to tell when she's bigger and she's moving all over the place."

"This is so weird," Regina said softly.

Emma chuckled before leaning forward and kissing her. "The best kind of weird there is."

 **Short but sweet!**


	10. Gender Reveal

**Okay so I just watched the latest episode and let me tell you. I'm so impressed with how they wrote Jennifer Morrison off of the show. Since she'll be returning at some point they left it super open for her return, while also making it easy to explain why she's not in Hyperion Heights with everyone else. If you're not watching Season 7, go start it. Right now.**

 **Okay Author's Note done :)**

* * *

Emma and Regina stood side by side as they watched all of their friends talking and laughing in the backyard of the mansion. It had been Snow's idea to host a gender reveal party for the two of them, even though they were confident in what they thought their baby would be.

But, as usual, Snow somehow managed to guilt the two of them into doing the party. But in all honesty, all they had done was go to the ultrasound and have the technician write down the gender on a little piece of paper and place it in an envelope.

Regina was honestly impressed that Snow had managed to keep the identity of their baby hidden for this long.

"You two don't even look nervous," Snow said, coming over to them. "It's like you already know."

Regina shrugged. "I had a feeling, and I've stuck with it."

"Well at least act surprised if it's the gender you were expecting," Snow sighed.

"On a scale of 1-10, how surprised should we be?" Emma asked, smiling. Snow rolled her eyes as Regina laughed.

"You two are impossible, you know that?" Snow said, trying to act angry. In the end, she just ended up laughing along with them.

David walked over to them, putting his arm around Snow. "You ladies ready for the big reveal? Everyone is finally gathered around and waiting."

Emma laced her fingers through Regina's and they walked together to where a white and black balloon was moving back and forth gently in the breeze. Snow had thought it would be funny to combine dark and light. Regina didn't find it as funny.

"I still want to know how she managed to get confetti inside of that thing," Emma mumbled to Regina. Regina just laughed.

Henry stood off to the side with Snow and David, smiling from ear to ear. He had helped with the balloon, and knew what the gender was. Emma had been trying to get it out of him without Regina knowing, but he wouldn't budge.

"Ready?" Regina asked, taking the needle that Snow handed her. Everyone at the party cheered. They were as excited as Emma and Regina were.

If Regina was totally honest with herself, she hadn't expected the level of happiness that the town had reacted with when they found out about her pregnancy. She had been expecting an angry mob of some sort, protesting how she had brainwashed the Savior and was covering up for a one night stand by blaming magic.

But that hadn't happened. The town was incredibly happy, both for Regina and Emma. They wanted the two of them to have a happy ending just like everyone else.

"Hurry up already, we're dying over here!" Ruby shouted, smiling at the two of them. Everyone laughed.

"Here goes nothing," Regina said. She popped the balloon, releasing pink confetti everywhere. People cheered as they saw what color the confetti was, running over to hug Emma and Regina and congratulate them.

"Are you happy?" Emma asked Henry as she hugged him. "With the gender I mean."

"I didn't care what gender the baby was," Henry said. "I'm just happy because you guys are happy."

"Thanks kid," Emma said, squeezing Henry gently before letting him go. "I don't know what your mom and I did to have such a great kid."

Henry shrugged. "You'd have to ask her. She did all of the raising."

Emma looked over at Regina, smiling as she saw how happy that Regina looked. "She did do a pretty great job, huh?"

Regina looked over and saw Emma and Henry looking at her. She raised an eyebrow before making her way over to them. "Are you talking about me?"

"Maybe," Emma said, smiling at her. "Or maybe I was just talking about how you were right about the baby's gender."

"Please," Regina scoffed. "You of all people should know by now that I'm always right."

The three of them started laughing, too happy to really notice anything else. Including Snow and David watching them.

"I feel bad," Snow said.

"This is their day," David reminded her. "You know as well as I do how they both would react if we told them today."

Snow sighed. "I know. That's why I got so involved with today. So they would know that I truly am happy for them."

David wrapped his arm around her and kissed her cheek. "We're just going to have to play it by ear. If anything, we tell them after their baby is born."

"No," Snow said quickly. "I can't wait that long."

David sighed. "Snow-"

"Everything okay over here?" Emma asked, walking over to them. She had glanced over and saw the worry etched onto her parent's faces.

"Just fine," Snow said, smiling at Emma.

Emma looked at her skeptically. "You looked worried, and now my superpower is going off. What are you guys hiding?"

David went to say something, but luckily they were saved from having to answer by Belle. "Sorry to interrupt, but Neal woke up from his nap and is super fussy."

"I'll get it," Snow said quickly, hurrying off. David followed her, not saying a word to Emma.

Belle looked after them in confusion. "What was that about? I was just going to ask how they usually calm him down."

"I don't know," Emma said. "But I intend to find out."

 **What are Snow and David hiding? Guess you'll just have to wait and see!**


	11. Nursery

**I'm not sure if I should be proud that you guys figured out what I was hinting at, or sad that I'm so predictable. Oh well. Anyway, someone reviewed asking for something about the nursery, so here it is. Enjoy this chapter!**

Emma walked into the mansion after work and immediately froze. It was too quiet. She crept upstairs, cocking her head to the side in confusion as she smelled paint. Why would there be paint in the house?

Regina chose that moment to walk out of the guest room across the hall from her and Emma's bedroom, wearing an apron covered in paint. She jumped at seeing Emma, almost dropping the paintbrush in her hand.

"What are you doing?" Emma asked, chuckling.

"Painting," Regina said, holding up her brush and raising an eyebrow. "I thought that was obvious."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Why are you painting?"

"Because," Regina said, walking back into the guest room. "We have yet to get the nursery ready, and I don't know if you've noticed or not but I'm due in 2 months."

Emma followed her into the nursery. "I'll figure it out. You probably shouldn't be around these paint fumes anyway."

"Well someone has to paint the room," Regina said, carefully setting the paintbrush down. "And we both know that it isn't going to be you."

"Last time I checked, Henry and my mom both like painting," Emma said. "And David and I can put together the furniture. You don't have to worry about a thing."

Regina sighed. "Fine. But I'm still staying around to supervise."

"As long as you're not around the paint fumes, I'm happy," Emma said, shrugging.

"So overprotective," Regina teased, walking out of the room.

Emma just smiled. She was right.

"We could do a princess theme!" Snow said excitedly, looking around the nursery. "How cute would that be?"

"Let's keep the fairytale talk until she's older," Regina said, leaning against the doorframe of the nursery.

"Technically, she is a princess," Emma said, smirking.

"We could even model her room after what mine looked like in the Enchanted Forest!" Snow said, clapping her hands. "We'll need a lot more pink."

"The last thing you are going to do is paint a room in my house pink," Regina said, glaring at mother and daughter. "I also don't need another reminder of that castle."

"Right," Snow said, looking apologetic. "I keep forgetting that his castle wasn't as happy for you as it was for me."

Regina just waved her hand, dismissing Snow's apology. "Forget about it, I've moved on. Obviously. As long as it doesn't look like a unicorn threw up in here, I have no problem with what you do."

"Good because we're going to start painting, which means that you can't be around," Emma said, pointing down the hall.

Regina rolled her eyes and sighed before heading downstairs. Henry and David were in the living room working on the crib, so she figured she would help them. Even though Emma had volunteered Henry for painting, he wanted to help David instead.

Meanwhile, Emma saw Regina leaving as a perfect chance to get out of Snow what she and David were hiding. She knew out of the two of them that Snow wouldn't be able to keep something from her for long.

"So what color should we do?" Snow asked. "We could always do purple. Regina seems to like that color."

"Still too princess-like," Emma said.

Snow sighed. "Every girly color will seem too princess-like to her."

"So let's try for a queen color," Emma said. "Besides red. Red seems a little too out there for a baby."

Snow laughed. "Agreed. And she'd probably think that it was in reference to her obsession with apples."

They stood in silence, each of them going through colors. Several beats passed before Emma spoke again. "What are you and David hiding?"

Snow winced. "We aren't hiding anything."

"Please," Emma scoffed. "You know I can tell when you're lying, and I saw the way that the two of you acted at the party. Something's up."

"I can't tell you," Snow said. "I don't want to ruin the happiness that you and Regina have right now."

Emma's eyes widened. "Are you sick? Dying? Cursed again?"

"No, no, nothing like that," Snow said quickly. "It's not anything bad."

"Then why can't you tell me?" Emma asked.

Snow went to reply, but was saved by a throat clearing in the doorway. They both looked up to see Henry standing there. "Hi. Sorry to interrupt. But we have a tiny problem."

Emma forgot about Snow in a second. "What kind of problem?"

"Mom went up to the attic to get some of my baby stuff and she hasn't come back down," Henry said. "She won't respond when I ask if she's okay."

"You let your 7-month pregnant mother climb into the attic?" Emma asked, pushing past Henry.

Henry followed close behind. "You know how she is," he protested. "She insisted that she could go up, and when David and I said we could she just got defensive that she was pregnant, not handicapped."

"Sounds like her," Emma mumbled. "Stay here." She climbed into the attic, coughing at the dust that was hanging in the air. They really needed to clean this place.

"Be careful where you step," Regina said.

Emma jumped. She hadn't even realized that Regina was right in front of her. It was too dark to see anything. "What are you doing up here?"

"I found this," Regina said, holding up a little white dress. "I was looking for Henry's baby things, and I don't remember ever seeing it before."

"What is it?" Emma asked, carefully making her way over to where Regina sat. She sat down next to her, taking a good look at the dress.

"My baby dress," Regina said softly, running her fingers delicately over it. "You know how this town works. It makes items appear that you had long forgotten about."

Emma hummed in agreement, wrapping her arms around Regina and resting her hands on Regina's abdomen. She smiled as she felt Lola kick against her palms.

"What if I'm like her?" Regina asked, so quietly that Emma almost missed it.

Emma was about to ask who, but then realized exactly who Regina was talking about. "You are not going to be," she said strongly. "You're not evil anymore, remember? And you have your heart."

"I'll always be evil," Regina said. "You know that."

"Evil is a spectrum," Emma said. "You started off at the most extreme level and have worked your way down to where you are now. Besides, you're already a mother."

Regina shook her head. "To a boy. A girl could be different."

"You already love our little girl so much," Emma said. "Can you honestly see yourself harming an innocent little girl like your mother harmed you?"

Regina hesitated before answering. "There's always the chance that I could-"

"It's a yes or no question," Emma interrupted gently, smiling at her.

"No," Regina said. "I couldn't hurt her."

Emma smiled before kissing her cheek. "See? You have nothing to be worried about. Besides, Henry and I will be here the entire time. You can't go all evil when you're surrounded by that much love."

Regina finally smiled. "What would I do without you?"

"You'd be lost," Emma teased, laughing.

"That's you, dear, not me," Regina said, smiling.

"Are you two okay up there?" Henry called. Regina smiled at the worry lacing his voice. She would truly never get over how much he loved her.

"We're just fine," Emma called back. "Be down in a second."

Regina went to pull away to climb back down, but Emma held onto her. "No way are you climbing down those stairs. You may not be able to do magic, but I can."

Before Regina could even protest, Emma had poofed them out of the attic and into the hallway where everyone was waiting. Henry hugged Regina, thankful she was okay.

"So," Regina said, once Henry had let go of her. "Did we decide on a color for the nursery?"

* * *

In the end, both Regina and Snow got what they wanted. Snow got the pink that she wanted in the room and on three of the walls, while Regina got what she wanted and had one of the walls painted gray and all of the furniture black.

Emma didn't really care what the nursery looked like, as long as Regina was happy. She pretended that she didn't notice Snow and David glancing at each other every once in awhile. They really sucked at keeping secrets.

Eventually Regina noticed it too, because she finally had enough of it.

"What is going on?" Regina demanded, glaring at them both. "You keep looking at each as if you have the biggest secret in the world."

Emma smirked as she saw Snow and David's eyes widen in a panic. "It's nothing," David said quickly.

Regina rolled her eyes before turning to Snow. "Spill it. I know you want to."

Snow bit her lip, and her face turned red as if she was afraid she would spill the beans if she even breathed.

Regina narrowed her eyes before looking her up and down. Finally, realization hit her. Why she and David had been acting weird, and basically throwing themselves into helping her and Emma with whatever they needed. She should have known that they were only doing it to help themselves.

"You're pregnant," Regina said. "Aren't you?"

Emma looked at Regina, shocked. "What? Why would you say that?"

"They've been helpful," Regina said. "Too helpful. I should have known that something was up when you mother kept volunteering to help out with things."

"I'm sorry," Snow said. "If it makes you feel any better, it wasn't planned."

Emma and Henry winced. Ouch.

Regina shook her head. "Were you just going to hide it forever?"

"There was no right time to tell you," Snow said. "We didn't want it to seem like we were stealing your thunder. You're both finally happy, and we already have happiness. We didn't want it to seem like we were stealing yours."

Regina and Emma's jaws both dropped open at the same time. That was definitely not the answer either of them had been expecting.

"So you weren't telling us because you wanted us to get to have our moment?" Emma asked. She, like Regina, was so used to her parents making dumb decisions about what was best for everyone else.

David nodded. "You're both so happy. And this is an amazing thing. No one else has a baby that was created by magic. We didn't want to ruin it."

"We're sorry," Snow said. "It was so hard keeping it from you and-"

She was cut off by Regina hugging her tightly. Or as tightly as she could with her belly between them. Snow tensed in surprise before relaxing into Regina's hug.

"I try so hard to be mad at you, you know that?" Regina teased, letting go of her.

Snow laughed. "At least I kept a secret for once."

"How far along are you?" Emma asked.

"Only a month," Snow said. "Nobody else knows either. We know how this town favors us anyway, and we didn't want to take their attention away from you two either."

Emma smiled before hugging both of her parents. "Congrats."

"You know, this could be a good thing," Henry said. "Now Lola will have other little kids to play with. There's quite an age gap between the two of us."

Emma and Regina looked at each other and smiled. Leave it to Henry to find the good in every situation.

 **Not really sure what happened with this chapter. I rewrote it like 3 times because nothing felt like it flowed well enough. Anyway, Snow and David's secret is out!**


	12. Almost There

Regina bit her lip as she walked towards Zelena's cottage. Technically she was supposed to be at home resting, but Emma was at work and wouldn't know that she had slipped out for a little while.

The truth was, she was embarrassed to ask Emma the question she was about to ask her sister. And while it might seem odd to some that Regina was actually going to Zelena for help, she was desperate. Zelena wouldn't be able to resist.

Taking a deep breath, Regina knocked on Zelena's door. A few seconds later, the door opened to reveal a very tired looking Zelena. "What do you want?"

"Are you okay?" Regina asked, her question completely forgotten. Zelena looked like she could fall over at any second.

"Robin's sick and she won't stop crying," Zelena said. "She refuses to take the medicine that Dr. Whale prescribed for her, and I don't know what to do."

"I could help," Regina said. "If you wanted. Henry had the same problem."

Zelena smiled at her. "That would be amazing." She stepped to the side, allowing Regina to walk inside. Regina headed straight to where she knew Robin's crib would be, gently picking her up.

"I keep forgetting that you've already done this once," Zelena said, sitting at the kitchen table. She began to prepare Robin's medicine while Regina bounced and cooed at the little girl.

"It's been awhile since I did all that," Regina said quietly. "He's all grown up now."

Zelena stopped what she was doing and studied Regina carefully. "Is that why you're here?"

"No," Regina said. "I'm here for something else."

"What are you here for then?" Zelena asked, walking over and handing Regina the syringe with the medicine in it. "I'm sure anything I could answer Emma could as well."

Regina continued making faces at Robin to distract her while sticking the syringe in her mouth and pushing down the plunger bit by bit to get the medicine into her mouth. She watched Regina, not even noticing the medicine she was swallowing.

Zelena's mouth dropped open. "How'd you do that?"

Regina chuckled before setting down the syringe and picking up Robin's bottle. "Lots of practice. Henry got so many ear infections as a baby, it was ridiculous."

After Robin had finished her bottle, Regina burped her before setting her back in her crib and sitting down.

"This isn't something that I want to ask Emma," Regina said.

"Why not?" Zelena asked, sitting in front of her.

Regina rolled her eyes. "Have you met her? She'd just try to sugar-coat the answer and would tell me everything will be fine."

Zelena laughed. "Sounds like her all right. Let me guess. You're getting more and more anxiety about labor as it gets closer?"

Regina winced, giving Zelena her answer. "I'm going crazy. It's all that I can think about every time she moves. The pain can even be in my ribs when she gives a good kick and all I can think of is the pain I'm going to experience later."

"I can't offer you the comfort Emma can," Zelena admitted. "But what I can tell you is that worrying about it for the next month is just going to make it worse when it actually happens."

Regina sighed. "So what do I do?"

Zelena shrugged. "Exactly what you don't want to do. Talk to Emma."

"Is that really the best that you can come up with?" Regina asked.

"You came to me for advice, and I gave it to you," Zelena said. "Whether you want to admit it to yourself or not, Emma is the only one who seems to get through that tough skin of yours. So talk to her. You'll feel better."

Regina sighed before bracing her hand against the table and pushing herself up. "I suppose you're right. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Zelena said. "Thank you for your help with Robin. Would you mind if I um...called you if I needed help again?"

"You're my sister," Regina said, smiling at her. "I'm only a phone call away." She left without another word, not seeing the happy tears brimming in Zelena's eyes.

* * *

"Where have you been?" Emma demanded, walking into the foyer. "I was just about to call you when I saw your car pull into the driveway."

"I went to visit Zelena," Regina said, hanging up her coat. "Relax. It wasn't like I went to the gym."

"Storybrooke has a gym?" Emma asked. "Since when?"

Regina laughed. "It was just a reference; we don't actually have one."

"So what did you go to Zelena's for?" Emma asked. "I thought you two didn't really get along. Or is today one of the rare days?"

"She and I have reached a form of truce," Regina said, shrugging. "As long as we're on the same side, we act civil towards one another."

"That still doesn't explain why you went to her house," Emma pressed.

Regina sighed. "I had a question for her, and I ended up helping to give Robin her medicine. I lost track of time, that's all. I was going to be home before you even got off work."

Emma studied Regina carefully. "What question?"

"About her relationship with our mother," Regina said, walking into the living room. Standing for so long was starting to catch up with her, and her ankles were not appreciating it.

Emma followed her, leaning against the doorframe. "Liar."

"Am not," Regina argued, putting her feet up and leaning back into the couch cushions.

"Then why is my superpower going off?" Emma asked, walking over and sitting on the coffee table. "You never lie to me. Not anymore anyway. What's going on?"

Regina sighed before running her fingers through her hair. "I had a question for her about anxiety."

"Ah," Emma said. "The good old labor anxiety."

Regina looked at her in surprise. "How did you know that?"

"Regina, it's perfectly normal," Emma said, smiling at her. "A lot of women have it."

"I shouldn't," Regina mumbled.

Emma rolled her eyes affectionately. "How many times do I have to remind you that you're only human?"

Regina smiled guiltily. "A lot."

Emma laughed. "Why didn't you just ask me instead of going to Zelena?"

"Because I know you and your protective tendencies," Regina said. "I didn't want a sugar coated answer. I figured she would tell it to me how it is."

"And did she?" Emma asked.

"No," Regina said, chuckling. "She told me I needed to talk to you. And that the anxiety would just make things worse."

"For once, she actually said something smart," Emma teased. She reached forward and grabbed Regina's hand, getting her attention. "She's right. As hard as it's going to be, you have to let go of those thoughts that are circulating in your head. You're going to be fine. Yeah, it's gonna hurt like hell. That's an understatement. But worrying about it for the next month is just going to make it worse. Enjoy the last few moments you have being pregnant before you're thrown into diaper changes at one in the morning."

Regina laughed. "How would you even know about those?"

"Your memories remember?" Emma asked. "When Henry and I left town? You gave me your memories so I would feel like I always had him. Like I had raised him."

"I forgot about that," Regina said.

"Well don't," Emma said. "Because every time that you have anxiety about labor, I have the same amount of anxiety about actually raising a kid."

"You're going to do fine," Regina reassured her quickly. "You did perfect with Henry."

"And you're going to do fine with labor," Emma said. "See my point?"

Regina smiled before leaning forward to kiss Emma. "Have I told you how wonderful you are lately?"

"Not so far today," Emma teased, smiling at her.

"I'm behind today," Regina said, smiling back at her. She winced as Lola landed a perfect kick in a not so nice spot. "And I guess Lola agrees."

"Hey now," Emma scolded gently, placing her hand on Regina's abdomen. "You be nice to your mommy."

Regina laughed. "Scolding the baby?"

"Don't judge me," Emma said, blushing.

"I'm always judging you," Regina said, getting comfortable again. Emma rolled her eyes, but bit back her retort. She rubbed her thumb over the back of Regina's hand, smiling as she saw her beginning to fall asleep. After a few more seconds, she finally dozed off.

"I love you," Emma whispered, lightly kissing Regina's forehead before letting go of her hand and leaving the room. Getting comfortable at night was hard for Regina, so Emma was determined to let her sleep when she could.

She crept upstairs as quietly as she could and dragged the bag out from under the bed. She didn't want to freak Regina out, but she had already begun to pack her ready bag just in case. First pregnancies were unpredictable.

"Ma?" Henry called, walking into the room. "What are you doing?"

"Getting the bag ready," Emma said. "Just in case things get going a little earlier than expected."

"How early?" Henry asked, looking concerned. "You know how Mom is, if she starts feeling anything even a week before her due date she'll freak out."

Emma laughed. "Believe me kid, I know. That's why the bag is under the bed and is our secret. Okay?"

"Okay," Henry agreed. "Can I help you pack it?"

"Sure kid," Emma said, putting the bag on the bed. "Let's get packing."

 **So this is a call to all of my lovely readers who have experienced birth before. I'm looking to add to my ideas for the chapter, and would appreciate your stories of your experiences. Just PM me!**


	13. And So It Begins

**I'm so sorry you guys, it's been ages since I last updated. I'm the worst. I was going to wait for Thanksgiving to post again, but decided that I owed it to you guys to post earlier. Enjoy!**

"Will you quit it?" Emma scolded gently, shooing Regina out of the kitchen. "Henry and I are more than capable of cleaning things up and decorating for tomorrow."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Regina asked, exasperated. "I'm not an invalid."

Emma rolled her eyes. This wasn't the first time that Regina had used that excuse. "No, you're not. But you are 9 months pregnant and should be resting. Not running around the house trying to make everything perfect."

"I'm not running," Regina pointed out. "You'll find that I've been walking at a very moderate pace."

Henry laughed as he walked by with a dust rag. "She's got you there."

"Don't encourage her," Emma said, hitting him on the arm as he walked past her. She led Regina to the living room and pointed to the couch. "Sit."

Regina rolled her eyes before reluctantly sitting down. "Woof."

Emma couldn't help but laugh. "Stop being so stubborn. You never relax, take this as free time."

"I never relax because I don't know how to," Regina said, leaning back into the couch cushions. "You try growing up with my mother and tell me how to relax."

"Easy," Emma said. "You stay on the couch and do things you normally don't get to do. Read a book, watch a movie, stuff like that."

Regina sighed. "Fine."

Emma smiled before kissing the top of her head. "Don't move." She left the living room, going back to her cleaning.

"You know what I've always wondered?" Henry asked, walking into the kitchen.

Emma picked up the cloth she was using to clean the counters before looking at Henry. "What's that?"

"Why she needed such a big house," Henry said. "It's a pain in the butt to clean."

Emma just laughed. "Keep dusting."

* * *

Regina sighed as she shifted again. It was hard enough trying to sneak out of the living room and make it to the bathroom without Emma noticing, but when she had to do it every half an hour it was starting to get annoying.

Pushing herself up, Regina walked carefully towards the bathroom. Luckily for her, Emma and Henry were both in the kitchen and dining room. Now that everything was semi-clean, they were working on decorating.

Smiling to herself as she made it to her destination, Regina quietly closed the door to the bathroom. She reached her arms over her head, stretching out the muscles that weren't used to lying on a couch all day.

It was as she dropped her hands down and took a step towards the toilet that she felt it. A pop followed by a gush of what felt like water. Only she knew exactly what it was and what it meant. It also meant that the cramps that she'd been having the whole morning weren't signs of needing to go to the bathroom.

Releasing the breath she hadn't even realized she was holding, Regina tried to take deep breaths and calm down her racing heart. It hadn't been so bad, right? Just some normal cramps. No big deal.

"Regina?" Emma called, knocking lightly on the bathroom door. "Are you okay?"

"Just fine," Regina called back. "You know how it is, Lola's just using my bladder as a soccer ball." Emma laughed before walking away. Regina sighed in relief. No use in worrying Emma until things actually got closer.

Taking another deep breath to compose herself, Regina opened the bathroom door and made her way to her and Emma's bedroom. This was harder since she had to somehow sneak up the stairs, but Emma and Henry were both in the kitchen and didn't see her sneak past.

Regina quickly changed her pants before sneaking back down to the bathroom and using a towel to clean up her evidence that anything had happened. Problem solved.

Putting the towel in the hamper, Regina finally made her way back to the living room. She sat down on the couch, convincing herself that if she just pretended that she couldn't feel the contractions, it wasn't real. If she wasn't ready, Lola certainly couldn't be. She just hoped that Emma and Henry didn't notice.

* * *

The contractions had gone from every half hour to every 20 minutes, and Regina still hadn't said a word. They had intensified a bit, but it still wasn't anything she couldn't handle. The problem came when Henry noticed.

It really shouldn't have surprised her. Henry had a sort of 6th sense when it came to his mom. Especially when she was hurting.

He and Emma had finished the kitchen and dining room, so Emma had sent him into the living room. Not only to clean, but to keep Regina company. Regina was thankful for the company, but she also couldn't hide what was going on as easily with another person in the room.

"Are you okay?" Henry asked, glancing over at Regina from his spot by the window.

"Of course," Regina replied, not looking up from her spell book. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You keep shifting and making this face like you're uncomfortable," Henry said.

Regina sighed. "She's just really active today. Keeps kicking in rather sensitive areas."

"You sure that's what it is?" Henry asked, not looking away from his cleaning.

Regina's eyes snapped up to where he was standing. Was he onto her? "What are you suggesting?"

Henry rolled his eyes before turning to face her. "You know exactly what I'm suggesting. And you and I both know that you'd deny it until Lola was actually in your arms."

"You're too intuitive for your own good," Regina said, looking back down at her spell book. "Before you ask, I'm fine."

"You're always fine," Henry said, walking over and sitting next to her on the couch.

Regina smiled, looking up from her book at him. "Of course I am."

"You do know I have to tell Ma, right?" Henry asked. "About you being in labor I mean. You need to go to the hospital. Did your water break?"

"No," Regina lied. "Just contractions. Therefore, I don't need to go yet."

"Liar," Henry said, getting up. "There's two people in this world you can't lie to. Emma, and me."

Regina groaned. "Fine. Yes, my water broke. But contractions are still far apart. It's not that big of a deal. Don't worry Emma until it gets closer."

"Until what gets closer?" Emma asked, walking into the living room.

"Your birthday," Regina said quickly, glaring at Henry. "We're planning a surprise."

"Liar," Emma said simply.

Henry smirked at Regina. "Told you."

Regina sighed. "Fine. We're not planning a surprise for your birthday."

"So then what am I not supposed to worry about?" Emma asked, looking at Henry and then Regina. "One of you spill the beans."

"Mom's in labor!" Henry blurted. He grabbed his dusting rag before bolting out of the room. Regina could do nothing but glare after his retreating form.

Emma looked at Regina in surprise. "Seriously? Since when? And why didn't you say anything?"

"Are we playing 20 questions now?" Regina teased.

"Not the time," Emma said, sitting down on the coffee table to face Regina. "How long, and why didn't you say anything?"

Regina sighed. "All morning. And I didn't want to worry you before things got closer. First labors always take a long time anyway."

"You are ridiculous," Emma scolded her gently. "How far apart are contractions?"

"15 minutes now," Regina said.

Emma shook her head and chuckled before standing up and holding out her hands for Regina to take. "I repeat my earlier statement. You're ridiculous."

"I know," Regina said, taking Emma's hands to be pulled to her feet. "But you love me for it."

"God help me, I do," Emma said. "Come on, we're getting you to the hospital. We have a baby girl to meet."

"And I have a baby sister to meet," Henry said, smiling as he came down the stairs with Regina's ready bag over his shoulder.

Regina laughed. "What would I do without you two?"

"You'd still be on the couch, pretending you weren't having contractions," Henry said, leading the way out to the car.

"I would argue with that, but you're right," Regina admitted.

"Just get in the car before you change your mind," Emma said, guiding Regina to the passenger seat. "This bug doesn't need a baby born in it."

"We are not taking the coffin on wheels," Regina protested.

"It's either this or I drive your car," Emma said. "Take your pick."

Regina sighed before getting into the bug. She clenched her jaw as a stronger contraction hit her, smiling at Henry when he squeezed her shoulder.

Emma got behind the wheel before reaching over and grabbing Regina's hand, squeezing it gently. "And so it begins."


	14. Lola

**Okay so funny story. I ended up moving off campus to an apartment over break, however I haven't had internet to be able to upload. So this chapter has been written this whole time. I'm so sorry. Anyway, enjoy!**

"Ma, could you slow down?" Henry asked, glancing nervously out of the window. Houses and trees were blurs as Emma sped through the town. It was starting to make him nervous.

"Sorry," Emma said, smiling sheepishly at Henry in the backseat. "Wasn't thinking."

"The sheriff ignoring the speed limit," Regina teased. "How ironic."

Emma rolled her eyes before lightly pushing on the brake pedal to slow the bug down to 10 over the speed limit. "Better?"

"No," Henry mumbled.

Regina chuckled before sucking in a deep breath and clenching her jaw. She'd forgotten to watch the time to know when the next contraction was coming. In an instant, Emma's hand was in hers, reminding her to unclench her jaw and breathe.

The bug screeched to a halt in the parking lot of the hospital, and Regina rolled her eyes as she got out of the bug. "Did you even try to park, or are you normally this bad?"

Emma smiled and winked at her. "It's a gift."

"How are you guys still joking around?" Henry asked. Looking at him, Regina and Emma realized that he looked more freaked out then they did.

Emma shrugged. "We've faced worse."

Regina gasped and grabbed onto Emma's shoulder to hold herself up. "Although the pain level of this compared to electric shocks is pretty close."

"Right, that's our cue to go inside," Emma said, wrapping an arm around Regina's waist. Henry did the same on her other side. Together, the three of them walked into the hospital.

"What is going on?" Regina asked, her eyes widening as she took in her surroundings. Doctors and nurses were running everywhere, shouting orders to one another. Stretchers were going past, each with a person somehow bloodied.

"I don't know," Emma said, panicking. "I wasn't told anything."

"You're on family leave," Henry pointed out.

Emma swore before guiding Regina to the main counter. "We need a room please. My wife is in labor and contractions are getting closer together."

The receptionist looked at them apologetically. "I'm sorry, but there's no rooms available at the moment. There was a huge accident on Main Street and every doctor has their hands full."

"That's impossible, there aren't that many people in this town," Emma argued.

"Emma," Regina said, grabbing her arm and gripping it. Hard.

Emma put on her best brave face before looking at Regina, prepared to reassure her that everything was fine. The brave face quickly melted away as she saw what Regina was looking at.

Snow and David laid on two stretchers, side by side. Neither of them were conscious.

"No," Emma breathed, running over to them. She quickly checked for pulses, sighing in relief when she felt strong ones in both of them.

A team of nurses came to collect them, wheeling them off towards rooms. Emma jumped as one of the nurses touched her arm to get her attention. "They're going to be okay. They were the lucky ones."

Emma nodded before heading back over to where Regina and Henry stood. "They're fine. Apparently they were the lucky ones."

"So what happened to those who weren't as lucky?" Henry asked, not quite wanting to know the answer. The day had started out exciting, and suddenly had taken a much more stressful turn.

"I don't know, but we have a situation of our own," Regina said. "What are we going to do?"

"How far apart are contractions now?" Emma asked. She moved to Regina's side again, guiding her over to the waiting area. No use in her standing if they weren't going to get a room anytime soon.

Regina slowly lowered herself into the chair Emma had guided her to. "Still 15 minutes. Thankfully."

Emma sat next to her, grabbing her hand and squeezing it gently. "You're gonna be okay. Although you're probably close to reaching the point that drugs are no longer an option."

"Great," Regina mumbled. They sat in silence for a moment before Regina spoke again. "What if there's not a room in time?"

"There's going to be," Emma said. "All of this craziness will be over before you know it and then we'll get a room. Things are all going to go smoothly."

"I hope you're right," Regina said, allowing some of the panic she was feeling to creep into her voice.

They sat side by side for awhile, watching Henry at the main desk. He was hoping for any word on an empty room, but no matter how many times he asked there weren't any. Not even for the mayor and Savior.

Emma was fine with waiting. Regina seemed not to mind it either, and they both kept timing the contractions. Yes, Emma was fine with waiting. Until Regina finally couldn't take it anymore and cried out in pain as a stronger contraction hit her.

"That one really hurt," Regina groaned. She and Emma breathed through the pain together before Emma called Henry over.

It was hard getting Regina to release the grip she had on Emma's hand, but Henry quickly replaced her so Emma could go to the desk.

"Do you know who that is over there?" Emma asked, pointing. The receptionist nervously nodded, looking like a deer in headlights. "Then why aren't we _in a room_? Is that really that hard of a request to make?"

"I-I'm sorry sheriff," the receptionist stammered out. "But there's nothing that I can do for you until rooms are cleared out."

Emma slammed a fist on the desk. "Listen to me. Her contractions are getting closer and she cannot deliver in this waiting room. So you make this happen."

"Ma!" Henry called. Emma glared at the nurse one last time before jogging over to Henry and Regina. She quickly kneeled in front of Regina, grabbing both of her hands. Henry winced before flexing his hand. Regina was strong.

"What's going on?" Emma asked. "Why'd you call?"

"She screamed," Henry said. "I didn't know what to do."

"Okay," Emma said, kissing Regina's forehead. "How far apart?"

"I don't know, I lost track," Regina whimpered.

"No big deal," Emma said soothingly. "You've got this, remember? Deep breaths. We'll have a room in no time. Lola's almost here."

A throat cleared behind Emma and she turned slightly to see the receptionist standing behind her. "What?"

"There's a room available," she said softly. "And Dr. Green is on her way."

"Thank goodness," Henry said. "I was starting to get worried. Like, really worried."

Emma smiled at him before turning her attention to Regina again. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Regina said, smiling slightly. She used Emma to help her get to her feet before making her way to the wheelchair that the receptionist had brought over. After she was seated, Emma and Henry quickly took her down to her room.

"Doctor will be in shortly," the receptionist said before taking the wheelchair and shutting the door behind her.

"We left the bags in the lobby," Henry said. "I'll be right back."

While Henry was getting the bags, Emma helped Regina change into her hospital gown and get comfortable. When the nurse came in to get her hooked up to the IV, Regina barely even winced. That wasn't the most painful thing she'd have to go through today.

"These are heavy," Henry panted, setting the bags on the ground. "Like geez Ma. How many clothes do you think Mom needs?"

Regina and Emma laughed, grateful for the distraction from how stressful the day had recently been. Henry winced as Regina cried out again. In all honesty, he hoped that he'd never have to hear her cry out like that ever again after today.

"Hey," Emma said, getting Henry's attention. "You don't have to stay in here you know. We won't be mad if you need to wait in the waiting room. I can come get you when she's here."

Henry shrugged. "I don't want to leave you guys."

"You also don't like seeing her in this much pain," Emma said, looking at Henry knowingly. "You wince every time she cries out."

"Why aren't you?" Henry asked curiously.

"Because then she'll hold it in so I'm not worried," Emma said. She smirked as Regina glared at her. "You know I'm right."

"Smartass," Regina mumbled before groaning. "They're getting closer together."

The door opened then, revealing Dr. Green and a few nurses. "Good thing I'm here then. Sorry for all the chaos, there was a pregnant mother in the accident and I had to monitor her for awhile to make sure she and baby are cleared to go home."

"Are they?" Emma asked anxiously.

"Both mother and baby are just fine," Dr. Green said. She smiled gratefully at one of the nurses who handed her a pair of gloves. "Alright Regina, I'm sure that you're loving the position that you're in currently, but I need you on your back."

Regina nodded without saying anything, slowly letting out a breath as she rolled onto her back.

"Well," Dr. Green said in surprise. "How long were you out in the waiting room?"

"Too long," Emma said. Regina rolled her eyes.

Dr. Green laughed. "I'm sure. How far apart are contractions?"

"I lost track," Regina said. "But they feel very close together."

"That would be because you're very close to pushing," Dr. Green said. "A few more minutes and you'll have your baby girl."

Emma smiled down at Regina. "You ready to meet Lola?"

Regina nodded. "Let's meet Lola."

* * *

Lots of pushing and swear words later, Lola Maria Swan-Mills came into the world. Emma and Regina both had tears in their eyes as they looked down at her, swaddled in her little pink blanket with a pink hat on her head.

"She's so tiny," Regina whispered. "Look at her little hands and feet."

Emma chuckled before reaching out and letting Lola grab onto her finger. "And strong. Like her mother."

"Mothers," Henry corrected gently, coming to stand next to Regina. "I checked on Snow and David, they're both fine and are being discharged soon. Then they're coming here."

"Okay," Emma said, gently pulling her finger out of Lola's grip. "I'll be right back. I need to get my hand checked out."

Regina laughed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Emma said, kissing her forehead. "You're worth it." She left the room, hoping that things weren't too busy and she could make it back quickly.

Henry reached down and stroked Lola's cheek, smiling as she opened her eyes. "Welcome to this crazy family. You're gonna love it."


End file.
